Dr Claire Robertson is the dedicated disability tutor for all undergraduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Science (LAS), where she uses her experience living with disabilities to offer support. She teaches across all levels on the Human Nutrition BSc Honours and Human Nutrition with Foundation BSc Honours courses, which are still available through Clearing.
Dr Robertson's teaching spans the basic science of nutrition, research methods and introduces students to the importance of these skills within her specialist fields of cancer and cardiovascular epidemiology and public health.
She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 13 years old and can sometimes struggle when focusing on experiments in the lab. While stress usually causes increases in blood glucose levels for people with diabetes, for Dr Robertson they drop, which can be dangerous if the signs are missed. She also lost her hearing in her right ear in 2005, leaving her 80% deaf in that ear.
She said: “Despite these issues, or more truthfully, because of them, when I get told ‘this might be difficult for you’ my response is always ‘challenge accepted’! No matter what issue is faced or who I work with, I use that same mantra to inspire self-belief. I love helping people realise that they can achieve whatever they set out to do and to recognise that achievements realised can be worth so much more to them because of the complexities of their journey.
“Watching a student with a vision impairment complete a degree where he has had a lab-technician 'act as his eyes', followed spoken instructions to demonstrate knowledge of how to operate exercise testing machines, interpreted the data obtained from them and walked across the stage unaided to accept his degree is amazing. Nothing can get in your way to success if you choose not to let it.”
With no one from her family having attended university, Dr Robertson did not consider it an option until a friend asked her to go to an Open Day and persuaded her to rethink. It was then her Chemistry teacher told her about the science of food and planted the seed that she should try and apply to study Nutrition.
On her decision, she said: “I was still committed to being a waitress, certain that I wouldn't be accepted, so it was a surprise when I was. I wouldn't change that undergraduate experience for the world.”
Dr Robertson was looking for a student focused university when she came across a job opportunity at Westminster and since she joined the team, she has been taken aback by the supportive environment it offers. With internal support networks within teaching teams and across the wider University culture, there is always somewhere to go for help. As a disability tutor, academic mentor and member of The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Dr Robertson is constantly seeking out new ways to help students and colleagues across the University.
She said: “I knew I wanted a student-focused role, helping those who haven’t had a straightforward path in life. For any student selecting to study with us, there is a level of support and commitment to helping students achieve that goes beyond turning up to class and engaging with the materials provided. The teaching teams are enthusiastic about their subjects and want to inspire that commitment to learning within their classes. They want to know what is not going well so that they can help students overcome those difficulties and not feel defined by them. For many of us, our pathways to academia have not been linear, whether we missed the grades we needed to get our target courses or we were the first person in our families to go to university. I've never felt isolated at Westminster, there's always someone there when you need help.”
The Human Nutrition BSc Honours course as well as Human Nutrition with Foundation BSc Honours course are both available through Clearing. During these courses, students will be guided by Dr Robertson and her colleagues to examine how nutrients and eating patterns impact health and well-being, as well as the role of diet in both health and disease. The courses come with an option to spend a year in industry or study abroad at one of Westminster’s partner institutions. Successful graduates are also eligible to become members of the Association for Nutrition Voluntary Register of Nutritionists that recognises their scientific capacity to meet rigorously applied training, competence and professional practice criteria in nutrition practice.
On the big decision of choosing to come to university, Dr Robertson said: “Making the decision to go to university is huge so knowing that what you've decided to do is right for you is key. Once you've done that, irrespective of what hurdles you meet along the pathway to graduation, we're there to help you, you just need to ask!”
Explore all Westminster courses in Clearing.
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